Let the Spring Training Games Begin

It’s been 145 days since the Toronto Blue Jays took the field against an opponent. Not that I’ve been counting or anything.

Not that I’ve been dreaming for any semblance of Blue Jays baseball whatsoever since October 3rd 2010. Not that I’ve been yearning about any morsel of the Blue Jays on the radio, television, telegraph, or any sort of broadcasting device.

If you’re like me, it’s baseball or bust … and that drought will finally come to an end tomorrow when the Blue Jays take on the Detroit Tigers in their first Spring Training game of the Grapefruit League schedule.

Not that these intrasquad games aren’t great, but following the play by play on Twitter is one thing and watching or hearing it unfold live is another. And once pitchers and catchers report, it’s neat to see all the workout photos, but now it’s time to get down to business.

The Fan590 will have the broadcast of the game on Saturday, but unfortunately for those outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you may not have the luxury of hearing those games on the Fan. And due to legalities, radio stations aren’t allowed to broadcast Jays games online either.

Depending where you are, your local sports talk station may be an affiliate and carry the game. Here’s a full list of Blue Jays network affiliates where you may be able to pick up the game on the AM (and in some cases) FM dial.

Another workaround is listening to the game on your TV via your digital cable box or satellite. Depending on where you live in Canada, I believe the Fan is channel 958 on Bell and channel 904 on Rogers.

And if all else fails, of course there’s the good old reliable MLB GameDay Audio. For just $19.99, you can to listen to most of the Blue Jays Spring Training games online, plus you also have access to all the regular season broadcasts, as well as access to the audio archives.

Honestly, I’m not trying to sound like I’m endorsing GameDay Audio here but it’s arguably the best $20 bucks I’ve ever spent. GameDay Audio definitely helps make the month of March fly by when you know there’s a game to listen to every weekday afternoon at the office.

And once you just put it on your credit card, you forget all about it anyway. So happy listening and let the Spring Training games begin!

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez “mine” incident. He’ll also retell the story of Game 5 of the ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.